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UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 PRIVACY-IMPLICATED SYSTEM DESIGN IN THE VIRTUAL MARKETPLACE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Huichuan Liu, B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1996 Dissertation Committee: Approved by P Professor Rohan Samarajiva, Adviser Professor Susan Kline Adviser Department of Communication Professor Joseph Pilotta UMI Number: 9639290 Copyright 1996 by Lxu, Huichuan All rights reserved. UMÏ Microform 9639290 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Copyright by Huichuan Liu 1996 ABSTRACT This dissertation assesses design elements with privacy implications in consumer-market oriented electronic trading networks (ETNs) on the World Wide Web (WWW). The increasing popularity of interactive technologies is in part a response to growing demand by firms for the means to sustain lasting, constructive relationships with customers in the context of the trend toward mass customization. Yet the same technologies are potentially invasive of consumer privacy. Rising concerns of privacy associated with interactive networks such as the internet, including information security and consumer surveillance, are likely to affect the levels of consumers’ trust in ETNs and vendors, and thereby the quality of ETN-mediated commercial relationships. As the WWW evolves into an interactive virtual marketplace, ETN designs that effectively reconcile possible conflicts between vendors’ interests in consumer surveillance and consumers’ interests in privacy are important to the success of electronic commerce in interactive systems. This dissertation investigates how structural integration between ETN providers (ETNPs), vendors and payment system operators shapes privacy- friendly ETN system design. Necessary conceptual tools are developed. Types of customer information with privacy implications are defined. Design ii parameters of ETNs pertaining to three main phases of the trading cycle are elaborated. Privacy-implicated ETN design features are identified and a typology of ETNs is developed. Baselines of information essential for the completion of transactions using different payment systems are established. Six case studies fi'om three structurally variant types of ETNs on the WWW are conducted to illuminate the possible effects of different degrees of structural integration on privacy-fiiendly system design. Research results do not show a definite relationship between structural integration and privacy-friendly ETN design. Structural integration alone cannot determine the privacy-fiiendliness of ETNs by type, but must be examined in conjunction with other factors, such as knowledgeability of ETNPs, vendors and consumers. Factors such as the type of payment systems, and ETNPs’ sensitivity to customer privacy, appear to be at work in shaping privacy-friendly ETN environments. Merely providing privacy- fiiendly ETN systems may not be enough; ETNPs may have to convince current and potential customers that their privacy concerns are being addressed. m For the Memory of My Father & To My Mother IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am deeply grateful to Dr. Rohan Samarajiva, my adviser, for his guidance and insight throughout this research, and for his persistence and patience in nurturing me intellectually. I thank Dr. Susan Kline for her critical comments and enthusiasm for this project. I also thank Dr. Joseph Pilotta and Dr. Neelam Soimdarajan for their suggestions and comments, and Dr. Stephen Acker and Dr. Dirk Scheerhom for their comments in early drafts of this dissertation. Thanks also go to Rick SoUer for his detailed readings of draft chapters. I want to thank my mother whose endless love and support have sustained me through the journey of pursuing my dreams. Although it has been six years since my father passed away, I want to tell him that his love is something for which I will remember forever. I also thank my husband, Ben, for his enduring patience throughout the years of this process. Finally, I am indebted to Dr. Yaly Chao, my dear fiiend, for trusting me and supporting me emotionally and intellectually. Without her, I would not finish this project by now. VITA April 28; 1965 ........................................ Bom - Kaohsiiing, Taiwan, E.O.C. 1987 ........................................................ B. A. Political Science, National ChengChi University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. 1990 ........................................................ M. A. Communication, The Ohio State University FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Communication VI TABLE OF CONTENTS Pagê Dedication............................................................... iv Acknowledgments ......................................................................................... v V ita................. vi List of Tables...................................................................... x List of Figures .................................................................................................... xii Chapters 1. Introduction ................. 1 1.1 Problem statement .................................................................. 1 1.2 Research questions............................................................................ 11 1.3 Explication of key term s ................................................................... 11 1.4 Rationale.............................................................................................. 14 1.5 Literature Review.................................................................................16 1.5.1 On trading networks ............................. 16 1.5.2 On electronic commerce in networked trade environments .................................................................. 23 1.6 Organization of the dissertation ........................ 25 2. Conceptual considerations ...................................... 27 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 27 2.2 Telecommunication network design ..................................................28 2.3 Information security, surveillance and privacy............................. 31 2.3.1 Information security .............................................................. 31 2.3.2 Surveillance................................................................ 34 2.3.3 Privacy ..................... 39 2.4 Trust....................................................................................................... 43 2.5 Sununary ...................................................... 54 vn 3. A typology of consumer market-oriented electronic trading networks on the internet.......................................................................................56 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................... 56 3.2 Overview..................................................................................... 56 3.3 Major agents in the ETN.................... 57 3.4 Types of information ............................. 58 3.5 Design parameters...................................................................... 61 3.6 Privacy-implicated design features ................................ 66 3.7 Ideal types of ETNs ..................................................... 70 3.8 Baselines for privacy-implicated ETN system design ................. 74 4. Methods............................................................................................... 81 4.1 Introduction......................... 81 4.2 Data collection procedures......................................... 81 4.2.1 Case selection procedures ..................................... 81 4.2.2 Sources of data................................... 85 5. Type 2 electronic trading networks ....................................................... 87 5.1 Introduction..................................................................... 87 5.2 The